Third party monitoring of activity within a monitoring platform

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure describes a monitoring environment that monitors an activity for activity that may be indicative of being prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely suspicious activity, or activity that is prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely prohibited activity. The monitoring environment verifies the activity is actually being monitored within the monitoring environment. The verification can require one or more monitoring persons monitoring the activity to perform one or more tasks to verify their attentiveness in monitoring the activity. The one or more tasks can be as simple as activating a checkbox or providing a code or an electronic signature to provide some examples, although more complicated tasks, such as a biometric verification such as a retinal, a facial, and/or a voice verification to provide some examples, are possible as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/827,403, filed Mar. 23, 2020, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/282,886, filed Feb. 22, 2019, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,601,982, which claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/611,598, filed Jun. 1, 2017, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,225,396, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Appl. No. 62/508,106, filed May 18, 2017, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Related Art

Correctional facilities provide inmates with the ability to communicate with friends, families, and visitors as it improves recidivism and provides incentives for inmates to follow rules and policies of the facility. In addition to traditional telephone calls and telephone visitations, correctional facilities seek to offer a wide variety of communication services to inmates, such as video visitation and video calls, among others. However, as the amount of communication options available to inmates increases, an increased amount of monitoring is required for these communications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS/FIGURES

Embodiments of the disclosure are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary monitoring platform according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary monitoring center of the exemplary monitoring platform according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of exemplary operational steps for the exemplary operation center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing the exemplary design environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

The disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and/or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which an element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit(s) in the reference number.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

Overview

The present disclosure describes a monitoring environment that monitors an activity for activity that may be indicative of being prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely suspicious activity, or activity that is prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely prohibited activity. The monitoring environment verifies the activity is actually being monitored within the monitoring environment. The verification can require one or more monitoring persons monitoring the activity to perform one or more tasks to verify their attentiveness in monitoring the activity. The one or more tasks can be as simple as activating a checkbox or providing a code or an electronic signature to provide some examples, although more complicated tasks, such as a biometric verification such as a retinal, a facial, and/or a voice verification to provide some examples, are possible as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Monitoring Platform

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary monitoring platform according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a monitoring environment 100 monitors an activity for activity that may be indicative of being prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely suspicious activity, or activity that is prohibited by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities, namely prohibited activity. Moreover, the monitoring environment 100 verifies the activity is actually being monitored within the monitoring environment 100. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 , the monitoring environment 100 includes a controlled environment 102, an uncontrolled environment 104, and a monitoring platform 106 that are communicatively coupled to each other via a communication network 108. Although the controlled environment 102 is to be described in terms of an institutional environment, such as a local, a state, and/or a national prison, correctional facility, detention center, jail, penitentiary or remand center to provide some examples, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that the teachings described herein are equally applicable to any other suitable environment that is prescribed by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities without departing from a spirit and scope of the present disclosure. This other suitable environment can include a military environment, a hospital environment, an educational environment, a business environment, or a governmental environment to provide some examples.

The controlled environment 102 can be characterized as including one or more access restriction controls to control access to the controlled environment 102, access from the controlled environment 102, and/or access within the controlled environment 102. For example, the one or more access restriction controls can restrict entry by the general public into the controlled environment 102, can restrict those within the controlled environment 102 from leaving the controlled environment 102, and/or can restrict activity of those within the controlled environment 102. In some situations, the access restriction controls can be prescribed by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities.

As illustrated in FIG. 1 , the controlled environment 102 can include one or more insider persons 110. The one or more insider persons 110 can include one or more persons occupying the controlled environment 102, such as one or more prisoners, inmates, or detainees to provide some examples, and/or one or more persons needed for operation of the controlled environment 102, such as one or more prison officers, corrections officers, correctional officers, detention officers, or penal officers to provide some examples. In some situations, the one or more insider persons 110 can access one or more insider communication devices 112 such as one or more mobile telephony devices, such as one or more mobile phones, one or more mobile computing devices; one or more mobile internet devices, such as one or more tablet computers and/or one or more laptop computers; one or more personal digital assistants; one or more handheld game consoles; one or more portable media players; one or more digital cameras; one or more pagers; one or more personal navigation devices; and/or other suitable communication devices that are capable of communication within the monitoring environment 100 that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. These other suitable communication devices can include one or more wired communication devices, such as one or more telephones, and/or one or more personal computing devices to provide some examples. In these situations, the one or more insider persons 110 can utilize the one or more insider communication devices 112 for communication, such as audio communication, video communication, and/or data communication to provide some examples, within the controlled environment 102 and/or between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104.

Preferably, the uncontrolled environment 104 is situated in a location that is remote from the controlled environment 102, namely outside of the controlled environment 102, such that the uncontrolled environment 104 does not include the one or more access restriction controls of the controlled environment 102. For example, the general public is free to enter and/or to exit the uncontrolled environment 104 without being subject to the one or more access restriction controls of the controlled environment 102. However, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that the uncontrolled environment 104 can include other access restriction controls that can be prescribed by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

As additionally illustrated in FIG. 1 , the uncontrolled environment 104 can include one or more outsider persons 114. In some situations, the one or more outsider persons 114 have access to one or more outsider communication devices 116 such as one or more mobile telephony devices, such as one or more mobile phones, one or more mobile computing devices, one or more mobile internet devices, such as one or more tablet computers and/or one or more laptop computers, one or more personal digital assistants, one or more handheld game consoles, one or more portable media players, one or more digital cameras, one or more pagers, one or more personal navigation devices, and/or other suitable communication devices that are capable of communication within the monitoring environment 100 that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. These other suitable communication devices can include one or more wired communication devices, such as one or more telephones, and/or one or more personal computing devices to provide some examples. In these situations, the one or more outsider persons 114 can utilize the one or more outsider communication devices 116 for communication, such as audio communication, video communication, and/or data communication to provide some examples, between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104.

The monitoring platform 106 can operate in a monitor mode of operation or in a verification mode of operation. In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring platform 106 can simultaneously operate in the monitor mode of operation or in the verification mode of operation; however, in some situations, the monitoring platform 106 can operate in the monitor mode of operation or in the verification mode of operation and can switch between the monitor mode of operation and the verification mode of operation when appropriate. In the monitoring mode of operation, the monitoring platform 106 monitors the activity within the monitoring environment 100. In the exemplary embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 1 , the monitoring platform 106 is situated in a location that is remote from the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, namely outside of the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104. However, in some situations, the monitoring platform 106 can be integrated within the controlled environment 102 or the uncontrolled environment 104.

In the monitoring mode of operation, the monitoring platform 106 monitors the activity within the monitoring environment 100 as it occurs in real-time, or near-time, or the activity within the monitoring environment 100 can be stored and monitored by the monitoring platform 106 after its occurrence. In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring platform 106 can monitor less than all of the activity within the monitoring environment 100. In this exemplary embodiment, the specific number of activities to be monitored, for example a percentage of the activity within the monitoring environment 100, can be prescribed by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities or a contract between the monitoring platform 106 and the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities can specify the specific number of activities. In this exemplary embodiment, the monitoring platform 106 can measure the specific number of activities monitored and/or verified to be monitored by the monitoring platform 106 to ensure the monitoring platform 106 is performing in accordance with regulations of the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities and/or the contract between the monitoring platform 106 and the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities. In some situations, payment to the monitoring platform 106 for monitoring the activity within the monitoring environment 100 can be based upon whether the monitoring platform 106 is performing in accordance with the regulations by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities and/or the contract between the monitoring platform 106 and the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities.

Generally, the activity can include activity within the controlled environment 102 and/or activity between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104. In an exemplary embodiment, the activity within the controlled environment 102 can include communication-related activity which relates to communication, such as audio communication, video communication, and/or data communication to provide some examples, among the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102. This communication-related activity can include incoming telephone calls to the controlled environment 102, calls from informants to the controlled environment 102, inmate to inmate calling within the controlled environment 102, inmate to inmate electronic message relay within the controlled environment 102, electronic messaging, text messaging, video conferencing, or other real-time communication within the controlled environment 102, voicemail messaging, or other non-real-time communication, within the controlled environment 102, visitation within the controlled environment 102, teletypewriter (TTY), or other types of signaling, within the controlled environment 102, Internet browsing within the controlled environment 102, pre-incarceration communication within the controlled environment 102, post-incarceration communication within the controlled environment 102, chatbot interaction within the controlled environment 102, non-scheduled video communication within the controlled environment 102, covert audio and/or video communication within the controlled environment 102, and/or transcriptions of communication within the controlled environment 102 to provide some examples.

In another exemplary embodiment, the activity within the controlled environment 102 can additionally, or alternatively, include non-communication activity which typically involves observation of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102. For example, the non-communication activity within the controlled environment 102 can include movement of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102. In this example, the controlled environment 102 can include one or more security cameras to view and/or to record the movement of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102. Other non-communication activity within the controlled environment 102 that can be monitored by the monitoring platform 106 can include visitations between the one or more insider persons 110 and the one or more outsider persons 114 occurring within the controlled environment 102, exercising activity of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102, leisure time activity of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102, mealtime activity of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102, educational activity of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102, and/or employment activity of the one or more insider persons 110 within the controlled environment 102.

In a further exemplary embodiment, the activity between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104 can further, or alternatively, include communication-related activity which relates to communication, such as audio communication, video communication, and/or data communication to provide some examples, between the one or more insider persons 110 and the one or more outsider persons 114. This communication-related activity can include telephone calls between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, electronic messaging, text messaging, video conferencing, or other real-time communication between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, voicemail messaging, or other non-real-time communication, between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, teletypewriter (TTY), or other types of signaling, between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, non-scheduled video communication between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment, covert audio and/or video communication between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104, and/or transcriptions of communication between the controlled environment 102 and the uncontrolled environment 104 to provide some examples.

As additionally illustrated in FIG. 1 , the monitoring platform 106 can be utilized by one or more monitoring persons 118 to monitor the activity within the monitoring environment 100. Generally, the one or more monitoring persons 118 review the activity for the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity. Typically, the one or more monitoring persons 118 generate one or more warning alerts, such as an annotation, a flag, a bookmark, an audible alert, and/or a video alert to provide some examples, when the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity is present within the activity within the monitoring environment 100. The simplest warning alerts can include one or more annotations of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity, although warning alerts of much greater complexity can be used, such notifying the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity to provide an example, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some situations, the generating of the one or more warning alerts can affect the activity within the monitoring environment 100. For example, communication between the one or more insider persons 110 and the one or more outsider persons 114 can be interrupted and/or disconnected upon the one or more monitoring persons 118 generating the one or more warning alerts. In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring platform 106 can store a listing of warning alerts indexed to various actions to be performed by the monitoring platform 106. In this exemplary embodiment, the monitoring platform 106 can proceed with the action, such as annotating the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity, interrupting and/or disconnecting the communication between the one or more insider persons 110 and the one or more outsider persons 114, and/or notifying the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity to provide some examples, corresponding with the one or more warning alerts as prescribed in the listing of warning alerts.

In the verification mode of operation, the monitoring platform 106 verifies the one or more monitoring persons 118 are monitoring the activity within the monitoring environment 100. The monitoring platform 106 determines whether the one or more monitoring persons 118 are attentive and reviewing the activity. For example, when the one or more warning alerts are generated by the one or more monitoring persons 118 within a predetermined amount of time, such as once every minute, once every couple of minutes, once every hour, or once every couple of hours to provide some examples, the monitoring platform 106 presumes the one or more monitoring persons 118 are attentive and reviewing the activity. However, in some situations, no warning alerts may be generated by the one or more monitoring persons 118 when reviewing the activity within the predetermined amount of time. In these situations, the monitoring platform 106 can require the one or more monitoring persons 118 to perform one or more tasks to verify the one or more monitoring persons 118 are attentive and reviewing the activity. The one or more tasks can be as simple as activating a checkbox, entering a response to a question, or providing a code or an electronic signature to provide some examples, although more complicated tasks, such as a biometric verification such as a retinal, a facial, and/or a voice verification to provide some examples, are possible as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In some situations, one or more pop-windows or dialog boxes can appear to the one or more monitoring persons 118 notifying the one or more monitoring persons 118 to perform the one or more tasks and/or entering information requested by one or more tasks to be performed by the monitoring persons 118 during the verification mode of operation.

The communication network 108 includes one or more wireless communication networks and/or one or more wired communication networks for communicatively coupling the controlled environment 102, the uncontrolled environment 104, and the monitoring platform 106. The one or more wireless communication networks can include one or more cellular phone networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless sensor networks, satellite communication networks, terrestrial microwave networks, and/or other suitable networks that transmit data over a wireless-based communication technology that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The one or more wired communication networks include one or more telephone networks, cable television networks, internet access networks, fiber-optic communication networks and/or other suitable networks that transmit data over a wire-based communication technology that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Monitoring Center of the Exemplary Monitoring Platform

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary monitoring center of the exemplary monitoring platform according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A monitoring center 200 monitors the activity, as described above in FIG. 1 , for the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity. Moreover, the monitoring center 200 verifies the activity is actually being monitored within the monitoring center 200. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , the monitoring center 200 includes a monitoring server 202, a monitoring storage 204, monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and an administrative station 208 that are communicatively coupled to each other via a communication network 210. The monitoring center 200 can represent an exemplary embodiment of the monitoring platform 106.

Generally, the monitoring server 202 controls distribution of text, audio, and/or video information relating to the activity and/or scheduling of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n associated with the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and/or an administrative person 214 associated with the administrative station 208 to monitor the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , the monitoring server 202 receives the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In some situations, the text, the audio, and/or the video information can include metadata describing the activity. This metadata can include the identification of persons within the activity and/or the date, the time, the duration, and/or the location of the activity to provide some examples. In an exemplary embodiment, this metadata can include a unique identifier for the text, the audio, and/or the video information corresponding to the activity to allow the activity to be easily tracked throughout the monitoring center 200.

The monitoring server 202 schedules the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information. For example, the monitoring server 202 schedules the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information in a round-robin manner. Typically, the round-robin manner sequentially cycles through the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 one after another; however, those skilled in the relevant art(s) will recognize that the round-robin manner may cycle through the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 in any suitable order without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

As another example, the monitoring server 202 schedules the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information based upon abilities of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214. In an exemplary embodiment, the abilities of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 can be stored by the monitoring server 202 in one or more monitoring profiles which can be maintained by the administrative station 208. In this exemplary embodiment, the one or more monitoring profiles can also include the type of information, such as the text, the audio, and/or the video information, that the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 is permitted and/or certified to review. In this example, the monitoring server 202 can schedule one or more monitoring persons from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 familiar with a particular language and/or custom when the text, the audio, and/or the video information can be characterized as being in the particular language and/or custom. Otherwise, or additionally, in this example, the monitoring server 202 can schedule the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 based on scores or grades, which are to be described in further detail below, of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214. In an exemplary embodiment, those monitoring persons from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n having higher scores or grades can be scheduled more often than those monitoring persons from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n having lower scores or grades. As a further example, the monitoring server 202 can schedule the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 based workloads of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214. In another exemplary embodiment, those monitoring stations and/or persons having higher workloads, for example, scheduled more frequently, can be scheduled less often than those monitoring stations and/or persons having lower workloads. In some situations, the monitoring server 202 can use a priority based scheduling when scheduling the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In these situations, the monitoring server 202 schedules higher priority activity, such as real-time activity like electronic or text messages to provide some examples, to be reviewed sooner than lower priority activity such as non-real-time activity like voicemail messages to provide some examples.

In some situations, the monitoring server 202 can process the text, the audio, and/or the video information for automated review. In these situations, the monitoring server 202 automatically reviews the text, the audio, and/or the video information for the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity, such as call forwarding, three way calling, and/or dialing during communication to provide some examples, as described above in FIG. 1 . Typically, the monitoring server 202 generates one or more automatic warning alerts, such as an annotation, a flag, a bookmark, an audible alert, and/or a video alert to provide some examples, when the text, the audio, and/or the video information include the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity as described above in FIG. 1 . In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring server 202 provides an indication to the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, the administrative station 208, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, and/or the administrative person 214 when the monitoring server 202 generates the one or more automatic warning alerts. In another exemplary embodiment, the monitoring server 202 can send the text, the audio, and/or the video and the one or more automatic warning alerts, if generated, to the monitoring storage 204. In this other exemplary embodiment, the monitoring server 202 can time-stamp the one or more automatic warning alerts to correspond with the text, the audio, and/or the video information to allow the text, the audio, and/or the video information that caused the one or more automatic warning alerts to be easily reviewed at a later time.

In some situations, the monitoring server 202 converts the text, the audio, and/or the video information, into a format that is suitable for monitoring by the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208. For example, the monitoring server 202 can transcribe the text, the audio, and/or the video information into other text, audio, and/or video information that is suitable for monitoring by the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208. As an example of this transcription, the monitoring server 202 can transcribe audio information corresponding to an audio communication and/or video information corresponding to a video communication into text information. In this example, the transcription of the audio information and/or the video information into the text information allows the monitoring server 202 to automatically search the text information for one or more key words and/or key phrases from among a dictionary of key words and/or key phrases and to generate the one or more automatic warning alerts when the text information includes the one or more key words and/or key phrases.

In some situations, the monitoring server 202 can compress, decompress, encrypt and/or decrypt the text, the audio, and/or the video information in accordance with one or more compression algorithms and/or one or more encryption algorithms. The one or more compression algorithms can include any suitable lossless data compression algorithm and/or any suitable lossy data compression algorithm that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The one or more encryption algorithms can include any suitable symmetric key algorithm, any suitable private key algorithm and/or any suitable public key algorithm that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The monitoring storage 204 stores the text, the audio, and/or the video information for review by the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n as well as other data as to be described in further detail below. The monitoring storage 204 can include a read only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk storage medium, a solid-state storage medium, an optical storage media, and/or a flash memory device to provide some examples for storing the text, the audio, and/or the video information.

The monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can operate in the monitor mode of operation or in the verification mode of operation as described above in FIG. 1 . Each of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can be implemented as a mobile communication device such as a smartphone to provide an example, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), or any other suitable electronic device capable of performing the functions of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n as described herein that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In the monitoring mode of operation, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n retrieves the text, the audio, and/or the video information from the monitoring storage 204. However, in some situations, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can retrieve the text, the audio, and/or the video information from the monitoring server 202. For example, the text, the audio, and/or the video information for higher priority activity, such as real-time activity like electronic or text messages to provide some examples, can be retrieved from the monitoring server 202, as opposed to the text, the audio, and/or the video information for lower priority activity such as non-real-time activity like voicemail messages to provide some examples, which can be retrieved from the monitoring storage 204. In an exemplary embodiment, each of the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can receive a monitoring schedule from the monitoring server 202 which includes a listing of the text, the audio, and/or the video information that the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are scheduled to review. In this exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n retrieve the text, the audio, and/or the video information that the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are scheduled to review in accordance with the monitoring schedule.

Thereafter, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n process the text, the audio, and/or the video information for review by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. Generally, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n review the text, the audio, and/or the video information that they are scheduled to review for the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity as described above in FIG. 1 . In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n authenticate credentials, such as a username, a password, and/or an authentication code to provide some examples of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, before the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n can access the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information that they are scheduled to review. In another exemplary, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208 can track review the text, the audio, and/or the video information by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. For example, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208 can track portions the text, the audio, and/or the video information that have been reviewed by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or yet to be reviewed by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. Also, in this example, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208 can track which reviewer from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n has reviewed the text, the audio, and/or the video information. Typically, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n generate one or more manual warning alerts, such as an annotation, a flag, a bookmark, an audible alert, and/or a video alert to provide some examples, when the text, the audio, and/or the video information includes the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity as described above in FIG. 1 . In further exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n provide an indication to the monitoring server 202 and/or the administrative station 208 when the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n generate the one or more manual warning alerts. In a yet further exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can send the text, the audio, and/or the video and/or the one or more manual warning alerts, if generated, to the monitoring storage 204. In this yet further exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can time-stamp the one or more manual warning alerts to correspond with the text, the audio, and/or the video information to allow the text, the audio, and/or the video information that caused the one or more manual warning alerts to be easily reviewed at a later time. In some situations, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n review the text, the audio, and/or the video information having the one or more manual automatic alerts generated by the monitoring server 202 to verify the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity within the text, the audio, and/or the video information.

Often times, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n include one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) for interfacing with the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. In an exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can display the text, the audio, and/or the video information using one or more graphical user interfaces (GUIs) to allow the text, the audio, and/or the video information to be monitored by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. In this exemplary embodiment, a first portion of the one or more GUIs includes one or more activity display areas for displaying the text, the audio, and/or the video information. This activity display area can include one or more activity display area controls allowing the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n to pause, stop, fast forward, rewind, and/or play the text, the audio, and/or the video information. The activity display area can also include one or more metadata display areas for displaying the metadata included within the text, the audio, and/or the video information and/or other data derived from the metadata included within the text, the audio, and/or the video information. Additionally, or alternatively, in this exemplary embodiment, a second portion of the one or more GUIs includes a warning alert area for generating the one or more manual warning alerts and/or for verifying the one or more automatic warning alerts. Further, or in the alternative, in this exemplary embodiment, one or more pop-windows or dialog boxes can appear to the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n notifying the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n to perform the one or more tasks and/or entering information requested by one or more tasks to be performed by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n during the verification mode of operation as to be described in further detail below.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , the monitoring server 202, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and/or the administrative station 208 verifies the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are monitoring the text, the audio, and/or the video information during the verification mode of operation. The monitoring server 202, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and/or the administrative station 208 determines whether the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are attentive and reviewing the activity. For example, when the one or more manual warning alerts are generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n within a predetermined amount of time, such as once every minute, once every couple of minutes, once every hour, or once every couple of hours to provide some examples, the monitoring server 202, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and/or the administrative station 208 presumes the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are attentive and reviewing the activity. However, in some situations, no warning alerts may be generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n when reviewing the activity within the predetermined amount of time. In these situations, the monitoring server 202, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and/or the administrative station 208 can require the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n to perform the one or more tasks to verify the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are attentive and reviewing the activity as described above in FIG. 1 . As another example, the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n can be required to electrically certify, for example, by electronically signing, their monitoring of the text, the audio, and/or the video information after their review of the text, the audio, and/or the video information is complete. In this other example, the one or more GUIs, as described above, can include a textual box for entry of the electronically signatures of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. As a further example, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n can include microphones and/or video cameras for recording audio and/or video of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n while they are reviewing the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In this further example, the audio and/or the video of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n can be stored in the monitoring storage 204 for access by the administrative station 208 to verify the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n are monitoring the text, the audio, and/or the video information.

The administrative station 208 and/or the administrative person 214 oversee operation of the monitoring center 200. Generally, the administrative person 214 can be characterized as being a root user, an administrator, an administrative user, or a supervisor user having more privileges than the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n. For example, the administrative person 214 can edit the one or more monitoring profiles of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, edit the one or more manual warning alerts, such as the annotation, the flag, the bookmark, the audible alert, and/or the video alert to provide some examples, generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n, edit the monitoring schedule from the monitoring server 202, and/or edit the scores or grades of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n.

The administrative station 208 can be implemented as a mobile communication device such as a smartphone to provide an example, a desktop computer, a tablet computers, a personal digital assistants (PDA), or any other suitable electronic device capable of performing the functions of the administrative station 208 as described herein that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. In an exemplary embodiment, the administrative station 208 can review the text, the audio, and/or the video information in a substantially similar manner as the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n.

In some situations, the administrative station 208 and/or the administrative person 214 receives a notification, such as a text message, an electronic mail message, or other electronic message, audible alert, video alert, from the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n when the one or more manual warning alerts have generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n indicating further review of the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In these situations, the administrative station 208 can retrieve the text, the audio, and/or the video information and the one or more manual warning alerts from the storage monitoring storage 204.

Preferably in these situations, the administrative person 214 reviews the text, the audio, and/or the video information having the one or more manual warning alerts and/or the one or more automatic alerts to verify the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity within the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In an exemplary embodiment, the administrative station 208 authenticates credentials, such as a username, a password, and/or an authentication code to provide some examples of the administrative person 214, before the administrative person 214 can access the administrative station 208 to review the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In another exemplary embodiment, the administrative station 208 includes a substantially similar GUI as the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n to allow the administrative person 214 to verify the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity within the text, the audio, and/or the video information. In some situations, the administrative station 208, as well as the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, can affect the activity when the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity within the text, the audio, and/or the video information has been verified. For example, communication within the monitoring environment can be interrupted and/or disconnected upon verification of the presence of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity. In an exemplary embodiment, the administrative station 208, as well as the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, can store a listing of automatic and/or manual warning alerts which is indexed to various actions to be performed by the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208. In this exemplary embodiment, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208 can proceed with the action, such as annotating the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity, interrupting and/or disconnecting the communication within the monitoring environment, and/or notifying the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity to provide some examples, corresponding with the one or more automatic warning alerts and/or the one or more manual warning alerts as prescribed in the listing of warning alerts.

In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 , the administrative station 208 can utilize various statistical indicators to evaluate performance of the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214. For example, these statistical indicators can include the number of the one or more manual warning alerts generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 over a predetermined amount of time, for example, per activity, a day, a week, or a month, the number of the one or more manual warning alerts generated by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 and verified by the administrative station 208 over a predetermined amount of time, for example, per activity, a day, a week, or a month, the number of activities that have been monitored by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 over a predetermined amount of time, for example, a day, a week, or a month, and/or the number of times the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 have been required to perform the one or more tasks over a predetermined amount of time, for example, per activity, a day, a week, or a month. In this exemplary embodiment, the administrative station 208 can score or grade the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 based upon the various statistical indicators. For example, a first monitoring person from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n can be scored or grader higher than a second monitoring person from among the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n when the statistical indicators indicate the first monitoring person is more efficient, for example, more warning alerts generated by the first monitoring person over the predetermined amount of time, more warning alerts generated by the first monitoring person verified by the administrative station 208 over the predetermined amount of time, more activities have been monitored by the first monitoring person over the predetermined amount of time, and/or less tasks have been required to be performed by the first monitoring person, at monitoring the activity than the second monitoring person. Additionally, the administrative station 208 can measure the specific number of activities monitored and/or verified to be monitored the monitoring by the monitoring persons 212.1 through 212.n and/or the administrative person 214 to ensure the monitoring center 200 is performing in accordance with the regulations by the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities and/or the contract between the monitoring center 200 and the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities as described above in FIG. 1 . Further, the administrative station 208 can store a communication log indicating the activity that has been affected by the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n and/or the administrative station 208 for including the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity. This communication log can be indexed to the persons within the activity and/or the date, the time, the duration, and/or the location of the activity to provide some examples to allow the text, the audio, and/or the video information to be correlated with other text, audio, and/or video information of other activities by the same persons, the same date, the same time, the same duration, and/or the same location.

The communication network 210 includes one or more wireless communication networks and/or one or more wired communication networks for communicatively coupling the monitoring server 202, the monitoring storage 204, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and the administrative station 208. The one or more wireless communication networks can include one or more cellular phone networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless sensor networks, satellite communication networks, terrestrial microwave networks, and/or other suitable networks that transmit data over a wireless-based communication technology that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The one or more wired communication networks include one or more telephone networks, cable television networks, internet access networks, fiber-optic communication networks and/or other suitable networks that transmit data over a wire-based communication technology that will be apparent to those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Operation of the Monitoring Center

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of exemplary operational steps for the exemplary operation center according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The disclosure is not limited to this operational description. Rather, it will be apparent to ordinary persons skilled in the relevant art(s) that other operational control flows are within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The following discussion describes an exemplary operational control flow 300 for a monitoring center, such as monitoring center 200 to provide an example, in monitoring the text information, the audio, and/or the video information of the activity.

At step 302, the operational control flow 300 reviews text, audio, and/or video information relating to the activity for the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity. Typically, the operational control flow 300 generate one or more manual warning alerts, such as an annotation, a flag, a bookmark, an audible alert, and/or a video alert to provide some examples, when the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity is present within the activity. The simplest warning alerts can include one or more annotations of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity, although warning alerts of much greater complexity can be used, such notifying the local, the state, and/or the national governing authorities of the suspicious activity and/or the prohibited activity to provide an example, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

At step 304, the operational control flow 300 determines whether the one or more manual warning alerts have been generated in step 302 within a predetermined amount of time. The operational control flow 300 proceeds to step 306 to verify a monitoring person is attentive and reviewing the text, the audio, and/or the video information when the one or more manual warning alerts have not been generated in step 302 within the predetermined amount of time. Otherwise, the operational control flow 300 reverts to step 302 to continue reviewing the text, the audio, and/or the video information.

At step 306, the operational control flow 300 requires the monitoring person to perform one or more tasks to verify the monitoring person is attentive and reviewing the activity. The one or more tasks can be as simple as activating a checkbox or providing a code or an electronic signature to provide some examples, although more complicated tasks, such as a biometric verification such as a retinal, a facial, and/or a voice verification to provide some examples, are possible as will be recognized by those skilled in the relevant art(s) without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

Exemplary Computer System for Implementing the Exemplary Design Environment

FIG. 4 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system for implementing the exemplary design environment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure. A computer system 400 can be used to implement the monitoring server 202, the monitoring storage 204, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and the administrative station 208 as described above in FIG. 2 . After reading this description, it will become apparent to a person skilled in the relevant art how to implement embodiments using other computer systems and/or computer architectures.

The computer system 400 includes one or more processors 404, also referred to as central processing units, or CPUs, to execute operations of the monitoring server 202, the monitoring storage 204, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and the administrative station 208 as described above in FIG. 2 . The one or more processors 404 can be connected to a communication infrastructure or bus 406. In an exemplary embodiment, one or more of the one or more processors 404 can be implemented as a graphics processing unit (GPU). The GPU represents a specialized electronic circuit designed to rapidly process mathematically intensive applications on electronic devices. The GPU may have a highly parallel structure that is efficient for parallel processing of large blocks of data, such as mathematically intensive data common to computer graphics applications, images and videos.

The computer system 400 also includes user input/output device(s) 403, such as monitors, keyboards, pointing devices, etc., which communicate with communication infrastructure 406 through user input/output interface(s) 402.

The computer system 400 also includes a main or primary memory 408, such as a random-access memory (RAM) to provide an example. The main memory 408 can include one or more levels of cache. The main memory 408 has stored therein control logic (i.e., computer software) and/or data, to perform operations of the monitoring server 202, the monitoring storage 204, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and the administrative station 208 as described above in FIG. 2

The computer system 400 can also include one or more secondary storage devices or memory 410 to store data for performing operations of the monitoring server 202, the monitoring storage 204, the monitoring stations 206.1 through 206.n, and the administrative station 208 as described above in FIG. 2 . The one or more secondary storage devices or memory 410 can include, for example, a hard disk drive 412 and/or a removable storage device or drive 414. The removable storage drive 414 may be a floppy disk drive, a magnetic tape drive, a compact disk drive, an optical storage device, tape backup device, and/or any other storage device/drive. The removable storage drive 414 may interact with a removable storage unit 418. The removable storage unit 418 includes a computer usable or readable storage device having stored thereon computer software (control logic) and/or data. The removable storage unit 418 may be a floppy disk, magnetic tape, compact disk, DVD, optical storage disk, and/any other computer data storage device. The removable storage drive 414 reads from and/or writes to removable storage unit 418 in a well-known manner.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the one or more secondary storage devices or memory 410 may include other means, instrumentalities or other approaches for allowing computer programs and/or other instructions and/or data to be accessed by computer system 400. Such means, instrumentalities or other approaches may include, for example, a removable storage unit 422 and an interface 420. Examples of the removable storage unit 422 and the interface 420 may include a program cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in video game devices), a removable memory chip (such as an EPROM or PROM) and associated socket, a memory stick and USB port, a memory card and associated memory card slot, and/or any other removable storage unit and associated interface.

The computer system 400 may further include a communication or network interface 424. The communication or network interface 424 enables the computer system 400 to communicate and interact with any combination of remote devices, remote networks, remote entities, etc. (individually and collectively referenced by reference number 428). For example, the communication or network interface 424 may allow the computer system 400 to communicate with the remote devices 428 over a communication path 426, which may be wired and/or wireless, and which may include any combination of LANs, WANs, the Internet, etc. Control logic and/or data may be transmitted to and from the computer system 400 via communication path 426.

In an embodiment, a tangible apparatus or article of manufacture comprising a tangible computer useable or readable medium having control logic (software) stored thereon is also referred to herein as a computer program product or program storage device. This includes, but is not limited to, the computer system 400, the main memory 408, the secondary memory 410, and the removable storage units 418 and 422, as well as tangible articles of manufacture embodying any combination of the foregoing. Such control logic, when executed by one or more data processing devices (such as computer system 400), causes such data processing devices to operate as described herein.

Based on the teachings contained in this disclosure, it will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art(s) how to make and use the invention using data processing devices, computer systems and/or computer architectures other than that illustrated in FIG. 4 . In particular, embodiments may operate with software, hardware, and/or operating system implementations other than those described herein.

CONCLUSION

The Detailed Description referred to accompanying figures to illustrate exemplary embodiments consistent with the disclosure. References in the disclosure to “an exemplary embodiment” indicates that the exemplary embodiment described include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every exemplary embodiment can not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same exemplary embodiment. Further, any feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an exemplary embodiment can be included, independently or in any combination, with features, structures, or characteristics of other exemplary embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

The exemplary embodiments described within the disclosure have been provided for illustrative purposes, and are not intend to be limiting. Other exemplary embodiments are possible, and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments while remaining within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. The disclosure has been described with the aid of functional non-building blocks illustrating the implementation of specified functions and relationships thereof. The boundaries of these functional non-building blocks have been arbitrarily defined herein for the convenience of the description. Alternate boundaries can be defined so long as the specified functions and relationships thereof are appropriately performed.

The Detailed Description of the exemplary embodiments fully revealed the general nature of the disclosure that others can, by applying knowledge of those skilled in relevant art(s), readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such exemplary embodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Therefore, such adaptations and modifications are intended to be within the meaning and plurality of equivalents of the exemplary embodiments based on the teaching and guidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the present specification is to be interpreted by those skilled in relevant art(s) in light of the teachings herein. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A monitoring station for monitoring reviewer activity, the monitoring station comprising: a network interface configured to communicate with a backend communication server; an input device configured to receive inputs from a reviewer; an output device configured to playback a received communication to the reviewer; and a processor configured to: receive the communication from the backend communication server via the network interface; playback the received communication via the output device for the reviewer; track an amount of elapsed time from a most recent reviewer input; and in response to determining that the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined threshold, instruct the reviewer to perform a verification task.
 2. The monitoring station of claim 1, wherein the verification task includes a retinal, facial or vocal verification.
 3. The monitoring station of claim 1, wherein the verification task includes instructing the reviewer to provide a response input via the input device.
 4. The monitoring station of claim 3, wherein the verification task includes requesting the reviewer to input a verification code.
 5. The monitoring station of claim 1, wherein the received communication is a recorded communication involving an inmate of a controlled environment.
 6. The monitoring station of claim 1, wherein the received communication is a real-time communication involving an inmate of a controlled environment.
 7. The monitoring station of claim 1, wherein the received communication is one of a telephone call, a video call, or a text-based message.
 8. A method of monitoring reviewer activity, the method comprising: retrieving a communication for review from a backend server via a network interface; playing back the retrieved communication to a reviewer via an output device; monitoring reviewer inputs input from the reviewer via an input device; tracking an amount of elapsed time from a most recent reviewer input; determining that the elapsed time exceeds a predetermined threshold; and in response to the determining, instructing the reviewer to perform a verification task.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the verification task includes a retinal, facial or vocal verification.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the verification task includes instructing the reviewer to provide a response input via the input device.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the verification task includes requesting the reviewer to input a verification code.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein the retrieved communication is a recorded communication involving an inmate of a controlled environment.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein the retrieved communication is a real-time communication involving an inmate of a controlled environment.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the retrieved communication is one of a telephone call, a video call, or a text-based message.
 15. A monitoring station for monitoring reviewer activity, the monitoring station comprising: a network interface configured to communicate with a backend communication server; an input device configured to receive inputs from a reviewer; an output device configured to playback a received communication to the reviewer; and a processor configured to: receive the communication from the backend communication server via the network interface; playback the received communication via the output device for the reviewer; track an elapsed time; and in response to the elapsed time exceeding a predetermined threshold, instruct the reviewer to perform a verification task.
 16. The monitoring station of claim 15, wherein the elapsed time is the elapsed time is measured from a previous verification task.
 17. The monitoring station of claim 15, wherein the elapsed time is the elapsed time since a reviewer input was detected.
 18. The monitoring station of claim 15, wherein the received communication includes non-communication data.
 19. The monitoring station of claim 18, wherein the non-communication data includes movement data, video data, exercising activity or leisure time activity.
 20. The monitoring station of claim 19, wherein the received communication and the non-communication data relate to an inmate of a controlled environment facility. 